Obama backs "public option" for health reform

[ProSense]

Obama backs "public option" for health reform

CINCINNATI, Ohio (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said on Monday that the "public option" of a federally run health care program should be part of U.S. health care reform.

Health care reform is one of Obama's priorities. During a speech at a massive Labor Day picnic, Obama said, "I continue to believe that a public option within the basket of insurance choices would help improve quality and bring down costs."

"I want a health insurance system that works as well for the American people as it does for the insurance industry. They should be free to make a profit. But they also have to be fair," the president added before asking the crowd of 5,000 people to support reform.

[flamingdem]

1. Whew nt

[quantass]

2. Crossing My Fingers the final Bill out of Congress doesnt include the HORRIBLE Trigger

[Greenpeach]

3. He wouldn't do this...

and then let us down on Wednesday...He just wouldn't.

[tridim]

4. Good luck pessimists.

Looks like the sky is staying up there where it belongs.

[mvd]

5. K&R

I'm not so keen on that profit idea since they profit off the sick, but I'm on pins and needles for positive news.

[HereSince1628]

6. That is SO different from saying it is a non-negotiable point.

We get to read into it anything we want.

Frankly, he might support it, but as a pragmatist looking for a passible bill he's not said he would veto a bill without it..

[tridim]

8. He said "I will veto any bill without a strong public option", in July.

Keep up the pessimism, it's pretty funny watching you folks squirm.

[HereSince1628]

9. Yes, just like a politician he did it while everyone around said and still says

and even while he is reported by those in the inner circle to say, it's a negotiable point.

We will see how it turns out.

Experience tells me that the WH has already created multiple points of reference to connect to all potential outcomes.

History is a harsh schoolmaster that sees things perfectly, and History is married to Reality who feeds her cat on crushed foolish dreams and offers vinegar to babies to be sure they learn to accept nothing without checking first.

[Cha]

10. I see you're still pantywringing with the evidence

right before you.

Thank you, President Obama:patriot:

[debbierlus]

14. And, he said it was a sliver of health care reform and whether we get it or not

It is not the whole of health care reform in August...

[freddie mertz]

16. Stop confusing the issue with FACTS.

Ya gotta just close your eyes and BELIEVE!

:sarcasm: :rofl: :patriot:

[liquid diamond]

20. God, I hope Obama shuts these damn people up on Wednesday.

I'm so sick of their negativity poisoning this board.

[debbierlus]

13. This was no rallying speech for real reform, it was elegant word parsing

Obama could SO EASILY put everyone's doubts to rest. He could come out and state that a strong, robust public option is NON NEGOTIABLE.

That he believes it is a good idea alongside the leeches of insurance continuing to suck the life blood from the system...

I see nothing substantial here.

[Phx_Dem]

7. Of course he does. Always has.

Maybe the pantywringers will take a breath now.

:applause:

[freddie mertz]

11. Hardly a strong endorsement to say "would be"...

It's deliberately ambiguous, just like everything else we have heard in recent weeks.

[debbierlus]

12. Yeah! The insurance companies should be free to make a profit on human illness!

But, they should be fair about it?

That statement says it all....

Keep the leeches in the game...a tepid statement about how he believes in the public option....

You think that is encouraging?

It is sick. The democrats should be defining health care as the moral indicator of our time. People over profits. Health not as a commodity but as a right.

You think that speech is encouraging....you are holding on to a thread that is about to snap in two.

[tridim]

17. You are the most pessimistic person I've ever read

It's really stunning. How do you even function in life with that 'tude 24/7?

[Krashkopf]

15. "Should be" is not "Must be"

Talk about "tepid support!" Something that "should be" in the bill can be (and in this case probably will be) negotiated away in the name of getting a "win" for the President on health-care.

[freddie mertz]

18. STOP actually READING the TEXT!

You gotta just close your eyes and BELIEVE.:shrug: :sarcasm: :patriot:

[ProSense]

19. If he had said "must be," which he has before, you would

still post drivel claiming the fake progressive Edwards was right.